Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Hello North American Polar Vortex

You know it's cold when it's warmer in Anchorage, Alaska than it is in Atlanta, Georgia. What?!?!?!?
This satellite photo from NASA is mesmerizing. You can barely see the Great Lakes under that big mass of cold air barreling down from the North Pole.

Image credit: NOAA/NASA GOES Project

It was all of 6°F this morning on my way to work with a windchill of -12°F. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! I know the rest of the country and Canada is dealing with much, much worse, but the South is ill-prepared for such craziness. I was relieved that the black ice/snow/wintery mix missed the Atlanta metro area and I didn't have to deal with slippery roads during my 4AM commute to Starbucks.

In quilting news for 2014: I've been working on the second Silver Thimbles Quilt Club mystery quilt and am on the final steps of putting blocks together. Wish I could show you this fabulous pattern but it's top-secret mystery so I'll just show my fabric choices for this two-color quilt. Since the vast majority of my stash (stress that word VAST) is in Santa Fe, it was a challenge to find enough of two fabrics here to make the quilt. I had some stacks of yardage left to pack in an armoire so I started packing that up and picking out fabric for the quilt.

I have been hoarding yardage of an old Kansas Troubles fabric line called Prairie Moon and had enough (about 4 1/2 yards) of the black moon print for the dark print. Finding the light fabric was more challenging as I didn't have 5 yards of a good contrasting neutral. But I did have 2 1/2 yards of the green moon fabric and 2 1/2 yards of yellow moon fabric from the Christmas Past line by Minick & Simpson. Bingo! Now I have really cool moon-themed mystery quilt blocks that I can't show you...

What I can show you is this great special issue of Victoria magazine that I won in a giveaway from quilter/editor/writer/black cat owning/old house loving/all around fabulous Kimber from Heirlooms at Ashton House. Thank you so much, Kimber!!! During this freezing cold weather, I curled up in several quilts with a pot of tea and savored this issue. The beautiful photos of spring gardens will have you planning tea parties in no time. Also, there is a recipe for Honey Scones that I can't wait to make.

Gomez wanted to let you know that the Polar Vortex bypassed New Mexico and he was snug on his rug in the kitchen.

Stay warm everyone and rejoice in all those piles of quilts that us quilters have to snuggle under. I know I am :)

4 comments:

This is the one instance when I'm glad I don't live farther north. But let me tell you, its cold here in south Florida too. I am two hours north of Miami and we had a low the other night of 39 degree. Its killing the native Floridians. When its 65 degrees out you'll see people wearing parkas...lol.

That's just crazy weather and coming from sunny Sydney (except for today) it's difficult to imagine just how cold that is and how difficult it must be for folks to get anything done. I love Victoria magazine!

I do so hope your house sells soon and that you are able to return to New Mexico.Regarding your weather----brrr.....,is all I can think of to say. I am a California sissy! Where I live we get snow once every ten years and have been in a drought for more than five years. We are so starved for rain and desperately need snow in the Sierra Mountains to provide our state with water. Hope things improve soon for you.Pam